A Montana .338 lapua review......

Well its been about a year in the making and since the year is about over and shooting comes to a close for us here in Eastern Oregon I thought I would write a quick review.

After much debate we settled on a .338 barreled action from Montana. A 30 inch # 8 contour matt finish barrel along with their magnum action was ordered. Fast forward to the building stages. We were also buidling a 6.5x284 so we let McMillian bed and float the stock(A-5 of course). Many debates on here had me a little skeptical while the gun was being built about Montana's quality or accuracy? When the gun arrived we had a month until elk season. We had very little time to get it all set-up and shooting let alone getting the 6.5 up and shooting at the same time. Fast forward again to shooting stages, my father and I had built a 1000 yard range with 100 yard intervals. We did most of our developing here. We found the best load and accurate at 94 grains of H-1000 behind a 250 SMK bullet. Pushing the bullet at 3000 fps we were gettng very getting great results all the way out to 100 yards. The first time I shot the lapua at 1000 yards it was a crapshoot, I thought I had some good data, but this was all knew to me. Long story short the lapua groups great. Out of the few times at 1000 yards the groups were close, Actually some may not believe me but I put 2 shots in the same hole at 1000. Our targets were only 2ftx2ft, so I only got on the paper 1 with about an 8 inch group(this was during barrel break in)
Its shoots dimes at 100 yards and is just a pleasure to shoot. MAybe the most exciting part of the whole thing is when we set up targets at all 10 distances the lapua groups consistently everytime at every range. Their is not a distance it wont shoot sub-MOA. This was my first attempt at long range shooting, my father was also shooting the gun and having good luck. I am sure the groups and tunning will get better ounce we both get more experience. Fast forward to hunting season....

I passed on a nice 6x6 at 700 yards opening morning( had a science lab, would have taken to long to get out), my father later connected on a 6x6 at 780 yards with the lapua. Three shots and 2 hit home hard. The two vital shots were about 6 inches apart and we had amazing results witht the SMK, the bull dropped on the third shot like he was struck by lightning. The second shot missed somehow?

Overall impression. Weighing in at 20 lbs the .338 lapua is a pleasure to shoot with Viaz muzzle brake. The gun is as accurate as any. I have nothing but good things to say about montana products, they shoot great and everything works great.

Sounds like a great set up. We'll have to get together and shoot sometime. I"m only 25 minutes away. I would like to see a big 338 in action. My dad is planning on building a 338 EDGE soon. Congrats to your dad on that bull, and some good shooting.

I am glad to hear that your Montana Rifle Co. rig in .338 Lapua worked out for you. I recall that you mentioned this project a long time ago in another thread about Montana Rifle Co. actions where I described all of the problems that I had with mine. That was the same thread where Shawn Carlock commented on them as well. (Click HERE to see that one.)

Seriously, I'm happy for you and frankly a little surprised it worked out so well. After seeing your post a long time ago, I always figured I would see another one from you in the future where you reported serious problems with your rifle. I don't know if there as any truth to it but I heard just the other day that the Montana Rifle Co. is either in bankruptcy or about to declare bankruptcy and that the whole place is now for sale. Maybe they're desperate and decided to start building rifles that actually work right. Sounds like you got a keeper.

Well its been about a year in the making and since the year is about over and shooting comes to a close for us here in Eastern Oregon I thought I would write a quick review.

After much debate we settled on a .338 barreled action from Montana. A 30 inch # 8 contour matt finish barrel along with their magnum action was ordered. Fast forward to the building stages. We were also buidling a 6.5x284 so we let McMillian bed and float the stock(A-5 of course). Many debates on here had me a little skeptical while the gun was being built about Montana's quality or accuracy? When the gun arrived we had a month until elk season. We had very little time to get it all set-up and shooting let alone getting the 6.5 up and shooting at the same time. Fast forward again to shooting stages, my father and I had built a 1000 yard range with 100 yard intervals. We did most of our developing here. We found the best load and accurate at 94 grains of H-1000 behind a 250 SMK bullet. Pushing the bullet at 3000 fps we were gettng very getting great results all the way out to 100 yards. The first time I shot the lapua at 1000 yards it was a crapshoot, I thought I had some good data, but this was all knew to me. Long story short the lapua groups great. Out of the few times at 1000 yards the groups were close, Actually some may not believe me but I put 2 shots in the same hole at 1000. Our targets were only 2ftx2ft, so I only got on the paper 1 with about an 8 inch group(this was during barrel break in)
Its shoots dimes at 100 yards and is just a pleasure to shoot. MAybe the most exciting part of the whole thing is when we set up targets at all 10 distances the lapua groups consistently everytime at every range. Their is not a distance it wont shoot sub-MOA. This was my first attempt at long range shooting, my father was also shooting the gun and having good luck. I am sure the groups and tunning will get better ounce we both get more experience. Fast forward to hunting season....

I passed on a nice 6x6 at 700 yards opening morning( had a science lab, would have taken to long to get out), my father later connected on a 6x6 at 780 yards with the lapua. Three shots and 2 hit home hard. The two vital shots were about 6 inches apart and we had amazing results witht the SMK, the bull dropped on the third shot like he was struck by lightning. The second shot missed somehow?

Overall impression. Weighing in at 20 lbs the .338 lapua is a pleasure to shoot with Viaz muzzle brake. The gun is as accurate as any. I have nothing but good things to say about montana products, they shoot great and everything works great.

Well ,good for you on your rifle! I had one built and had nothing but trouble with it, the same issues as Doug had plagued mine, and none of them were addressed by MRC. I had high expectations & was very disappointed with the whole MRC experience, wouldnt surprise me if they were bankrupt, I was by their factory the other day & it looked deserted.